Aren't you afraid?
by Kliisjee
Summary: AU: Isabella Marie Swan has been searching for a long time, almost three centuries. In 1917 she finally found him. The one. Edward Anthony Masen. Will they have their happily ever after? Well, come find out.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello. Sorry for my bad grammar and spelling, I'm not English.:P**

**Hope you like my story, feel free to leave a review..**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, therefore I don't own any of the characters.**

**Renee Victoria Swan POV**

**1616, England Norwich**

"Mother! Look, it's snowing outside! Can I go out in the woods? I promise I'll be careful", my 16 years old daughter pleaded with me. She was already halfway out the door before I even opened my mouth to reply. Her big hazel and ocean blue eyes pleading with me to agree.

I couldn't refuse them.

Just like every female in my family she had one brown eye and one blue eye. Other people were always a little thrown of by it, but they didn't comment on it that much anymore.

Not because they got used to it, no, but because the priest's baby daughter also has two different coloured eyes.

I guess fear was what made them all so quiet.

"Please, mother! Just for a little while", my daughter begged me again when she saw that I was becoming lost in my own thoughts. I knew that if I told her no, she would probably sneak out later anyway when I wasn't looking. She was sneaky like that.

Heaving a sigh I just shook my head. "Alright, but stay close to the house and don't go so far in. You know how anxious your father gets about you", I said with what I hoped was a stern voice.

"Oh, I will mother. I'm just going for a walk, don't you worry", she said with an excited voice and ran out the door.

I watched her take off into the forest from my spot by the window, nearly falling over a big stone, but catching herself just in time. Her brown redish hair bouncing up and down in long waves. She must have inherited it from my mother, she had hair just like hers.

And just like my mother, Bella has always been a mystery to me.

Her love for nature was something she was born with, always making my mother take her out for walks even before she could properly control her own two feet. The two of them always had a very strong bond, always dissapearing for about two hours every day into the forest. I know Bella still miss her grandmother although she died nearly three years ago.

I remember how right beore my mother died she called for Bella, insisting that she had to tell her something of great importance. For days afterwards my daughter was quiet, withdrawn and moody.

It wasn't until one of her best friends, Claude, the butcher's son, came and talked to her that she started to cheer up again.

God bless that boy. He loves my daughter very much, but I know that my Bella doesn't see him like that, and he seems to know it. Never pushing for more than she was willingly giving to him.

If she was to marry someone I would rather it be him, her good friend, than one of those stuck up idiots that always flock around her every time we went into town.

They only see her beautiful exterior, never her free spirited soul.

Stupid, rich boys.

-

**Isabella Marie Swan POV**

**1616, England Norwich **

_Finally._ I thought with an involuntarily sigh of happiness. It was almost like breathing for the first time again after holding your breath for an immesurable lenght of time. The forest welcomed me back with open arms, the snow glistening from the rays of sun peaking over the treetops. Sunrise, the start of a new day. Or maybe the end of a long and dark night.

It always fascinated me how alive and awake the forest seemed to be early in the morning. Almost like it was sleeping, just like us, during the night, and then awoke as the sun rose on the sky, ready to blend us with its beauty.

The birds were slowly beginning to sing as I made my way around trees and bushes. Right above me I could hear a squirrel rustling the leaves in the treetops.

God, how I loved this.

After a few minutes of walking I finally saw it. My meadow. It was located in the heart of the forest, an enormous clearing where the trees didn't grow because of the little brook that run around it in a perfect circle with a big oak three standing proudly in the middle.

The first time I saw it I was so entranced by the sight that I almost broke my ankle by stumbling over my own two feet. Yes, I know, how original.

Pushing myself to walk a little faster, I soon broke out from the dense forest and into the meadow. I hopped over the brook and made my way over to the oak three.

Around it I had planted hundreds of herbs and beautiful flowers. All of them in the most vibrant colors you could imagine. No one has ever seen it.

They would probably never understand how these flowers could possibly grow in such a climate as the one we have here.

What people don't know won't kill them, or me for that matter.

I have seen people being burnt on stakes for less.

Witches, _they_ called them, people who were different from themselves.

Or simply people that didn't believe in the same God as them. I liked to call them murderes, because that's what they truly are.

Who is these powerful people that have the right to condemn other human beiings? Simply put, humans who look at themselves as superior because of their status in society, priests and nobel men. Ridiculous. Deep down, they were just afraid.

Afraid that people with more talent than they could ever dream off aquiring would throw them down from their high thrones.

I knelt down infront of some of my white roses and breathed them in. They smelt so lovely, like sugar and fresh water combined. The petals were beggining to look a bit lifeless so I laid my hands flat on the ground and gave them what they needed. Warmth and nutrition. My palms emitting a eerie glow.

Since I was four years old I have always known that I wasn't quite like other people.

At first it scared me.

I had been playing outside our house with some rocks, imagening that they were persons rather than unmoving objects.

To this day I still don't understand excactly what had triggered my, for the lack of a better word, talent, but suddenly the stones weren't touching the ground anymore. They were floating in mid air. Spinning around in circles.

Of course, I didn't understand excactly how they were doing it, but at that time I didn't care. I was having to much fun ordering the flying stones around.

At one point I even made one of them transform into the shape of one of my favourite flowers, freesia. The ones that grandmother liked to plant in the back yard.

I didn't stop playing with the stones until much later when said grandmother, Cassandra, found me and quickly put a stop to my little game. Explaining that what I was doing was very special and shouldn't be done out in the open, where people could see me.

Or else some bad men would come and take me away from my family.

I listened to her of course, she was always right my mother said, and didn't tell a soul about my little secret.

When I was seven, I found out about her little secret too.

She could heal things, all kinds of things.

I once saw her heal a little rabbit that had twisted its foot. The sight was so beautiful to watch as a strange glow seemed to creep into her eyes as she lay her hands on the injured rabbit's foot. A few seconds later the rabbit was hopping away into the forest again.

When she saw me standing behind some bushes watching her, she just smiled. Like this was something she had expected.

I asked her a million questions about why we were so different from other people, but all the answers she gave me was vague and fleeting. Only saying "It is simply just a part of who we are", or, "You will know once the time is right".

I was frustrated to say the least, but eventually accepted that she would answer all my questions as soon as she could.

Instead we started to spend at least two hours a day together out in the forest, where we could just be ourselves. No peeping eyes interupting us. That's how I learned to handle my talent. Learned what my limits were, and discovering what I could really do.

Frightening, yet thrilling.

With her I never felt unnormal or strange, just curious about why I had been cursed or graced with these powers. Wichever way you would like to look at it.

That's how I lived my life for over six years.

Learning. Wondering. _Hiding_. I became very good at that.

But I knew, and grandmother knew, that it couldn't last forever.

And so it was that my grandfather, Marlen, died one day in his sleep, 85 years old. A very high age compared to others.

He died not knowing a thing about the other side of his beloved wife, the side she only showed to me.

Grandmother could only heal the living, not the dead.

It broke her heart.

She only lived for two days after that. Heartbreak my mother said.

Both my grandparents dead within one week. What a cruel world.

I only hope that Cassandra finally told him the truth about herself, no one should have secrets in heaven.

Right before she died she finally told me that long kept secret of hers.

The one I was finally mature enough to hear.

The one concerning our hidden sides.

Nothing in the world would have prepared me for what she told me.

She told me that her real age wasn't 79, but 257, she was born in 1356 in Scotland.

Stopped aging in 1374 when she was 18 years old, traveled to England in 1574, and met my grandfather a year later.

The love of her life, the one she had been waiting for.

Fate is a powerful thing she told me.

The year after that she gave birth to my mother, a beautiful, normal human girl. All to my grandmother's great relief.

And so, 1555 was the year she started aging again, just like she should have all along. Growing old with her one true love.

A very romantic story, if it wasn't for the fact that what she had told me also applied to me.

I had five years left of a normal, or as normal as one such as myself could get, life before I would stop aging, on my 18 birthday.

And not have the option of death before I had found my one and only.

At first I just laughed hysterically, but eventually my giggles were replaced with heavy sobs.

There was no denying it, grandmother's eyes said it all.

I could never be normal. I could never die, not until I found _him_.

The notion scared me, the thought of maybe outliving all my loved ones creating a hollow feeling in my chest.

"It will all be worth it, flower child. You'll see. Just hold on."

That was the last words I heard passing from her lips.

I was just a child at that time, so I did the only thing I could, I brooded.

For weeks I fell into a great depression, trying to shut myself off from everyone.

Claude was the one that came to my rescue. He always had a way to make me feel better. His broad and cheerful grin pulling me back from the edge.

He taught me one very important thing.

"Life goes on, Bella. Even when it seems impossible."

I owe him so much, that silly, wise boy.

-

A howl broke me out of my review with a start.

It sounded like a small pack of wolves was coming my way.

I could already hear them growling.

They must have smelled me. I had been careless and let the wind blow my smell in the wrong direction. Inlands.

Wonderful job, Iasbella.

I turned around to where the sounds were coming from and saw three wolves in the distant, approaching me from the east. They didn't look hostile, just wary, like they didn't understand excactly what it was they had caught a whiff of. The leader walking a bit ahead of the others with its teeth bared at me. Trying to threathen me.

If these animals only knew what they had caught a whiff off.

I didn't even know it myself.

Before they had any time to attack me I lifted my hands and cupped them around my mouth, like I was going to yell, instead I blew carefully.

The wind responded instantly and did the he same as me, only a thousand times stronger.

The sudden strong gust of wind hit the three wolves hard from the front and threw them all several yards back into the air.

After landning with a soft thud on the ground they all got the idea that they were unwanted and quickly scrambled away. I let out a little chuckle at their hasty retreat. That would teach them to not stick their noses in places they didn't belong.

I turned back around to my garden and continued to care for my herbs and flowers. My slightly erratic heart went back to its usual ryhtm. No reason to be anxious, I told myself.

-

**Isabella Marie Swan POV**

**1617, England Norwich**

"Mother, must we really do this? You know how much I despise going into town, can't you just drag father along instead?" I pleaded with my mother as she was fussing over my hair, trying to make it look a little more elegant, rather than the wild haystack it usually looks like.

"Yes, now stop complaining. You know how low we are on fabric these days, you do want clothes to wear don't you?" she said in a stern voice and met my desperate eyes in the vanity with equally stern eyes.

Admitting defeat, I let her continue probing and pulling my hair until she decided to just let it hang free. No use trying to fight with it.

Believe me, I have tried.

I rose from the chair I had been occupying and put on some comfortable shoes made out of worn leather.

The dress my mother had forced me into was nothing short of annoying, skirts that were so long that I was sure I'd be tripping even more then usual, the fabric silky to the touch and coloured in a very deep shade of blue, almost like the night sky.

I felt like I was going to be on display.

My mother was very eager for me to find a husband, claiming that married life was so much more enjoyable and secure.

That's easy for her to say, she just married dad, I have to find a complete stranger.

"What do you think of this, Bella?" my mother asked me while holding up some dark material for me to see.

"Oh, it's very nice" I said, trying to not fall asleep while I leaned my sholder up against a wall.

My mother seemed to buy my little comment and went back to her fabric looking.

The little shop we were in was lit up by a big chandelier with hundreds of candels casting a soft glow over the small room. In a corner by the exit the owner stood and eyed us with a greedy expression on his wrinkled face.

What a pig.

"Alright, I think I've got everything now. I'll just go and pay, you can just wait for me outside,darling" my mother said while making her way up to the old man.

Nodding my head, I eagerly dashed outside.

The market place was bustling with life and every way you turned you could see people talking with various merchants and sales men.

Getting tired of standing, I decided to sit down on a bench that was placed neatly right beside the butchers shop. Claude was probably sleeping still, so there was no use trying to get a hold og him.

He really loved sleeping.

Deciding that mother would still see me when she came out, I made my over the street and plopped down on the hard woodwork.

I had been sitting down for excactly five seconds when suddenly, out of nowhere I could see a hord of male heading my way. All of them with big grins plastered on their faces.

Oh, joy.

The puppies return.

Couldn't they just go bother someone else for once, there were more than enough of girls around here, all of them much more intresting to look at than me.

But, no.

Something about my prescence seemed to just draw them into my personal bubble like a moth to a flame. Maybe it was my non-threathening exterior that made them all so confidant around me.

Pretty girls just made them nervous and weird.

-

A blood curling scream made me jump almost ten feet into the air.

The sound was so raw and filled with pure terror that it sent chills down my back. What in the name of nature was going on?

My "puppies" had stopped also and were looking around with confusion and, although they tried to hide it, panick marring their features.

It was nearly impossible to pinpoint excactly where the sound had came from, but I could already see a mass of people gathering a bit farther up the street, pointing, screaming and shouting franticly at something near the dust road that led out of the little town.

Cautiosly, I rose from the bench and inched my way up the street, closer to the group of people.

I wasn't sure wether I wanted to see what they were pointing at or not.

The fear in their eyes were terrifying.

My heart beating away in a quick and uncomfortable pace.

Before I could get any closer to them another scream was heard, equally terrifying, coming from the butcher's shop, the place I had left no less than three seconds ago.

It seemed as if every human in the little town had now filed out on the streets, all of them burning with curiousity, anger and fright.

The screams had attracted everyones attention.

The little gang infront of me quickly turned their heads around and started running past me, straigth to the butcher's shop. They had also heard the second scream and seemed determined to find out what was going on.

It was then, when some of the people moved a bit, I got a glimpse of what it was that had made them so terrified.

In the middle of the road about 50 feet from where I stood, lay a full grown man.

He was pale and lay completely still with his mouth open as if he was screaming, but no sound came out. His eyes glazed over, unseeing.

He was dead.

The only mark upon his body were two scars on the side of his neck.

Oh, my... What in the.. How?

Suddenly, I remebered the second scream. The one that came from the butcher's shop.

Oh, God. Claude!

Wasting no time, I sprinted for all I was worth back to the shop, trying to make my way through the sea of people who were gathering up outside the shop.

None of them seemed to want to go inside.

Well, I didn't care.

I wasn't afraid anymore.

I was furious.

Although I had no idea of what it was that had killed that dead man, I knew this, it wasn't human.

The two identical marks on his neck told me that much.

They looked like bite marks. But it couldn't have been an animal either. Animals can't move that fast, or break into locked shops.

So, who or what had done it then?

I pushed my way past a big and burly man, trying desperately to reach the entrance to the shop.

My breath was coming out in harsh puffs as I forced myself forwards with all the strength I could muster up.

The sky was picking up on my inner turmoil and was beginning to react without me even realizing it.

The clouds looking dangerously dark and the wind blowing with fervor.

_Get a grip of yourself! You have to calm down! There are innocent people her._

And then I heard her, my beloved mother.

She was screaming my name, I would recognize her voice anywhere.

My insides froze and I turned around quickly, trying to locate where her screams were coming from.

I could hear by the scream that she was alright, just worried about me.

But I wasn't taking any chances, I had to protect her.

She couldn't die.

The big burly man I had pushed aside in my haste to get to the butcher's shop shifted to the right a little bit, and I could finally see her.

Her face was contorted with sheer panic, the newly bougth fabric clutched tighly in her arms.

Eyes wild with desperation as she was franticly scanning the crowd for me.

That's when I saw _them_.

Several pale creatures, all of them crouched down in feral positions, their eyes a deep shade of red, and their physique inhumanly beautiful.

There were six of them all together, the leader standing proudly in the middle, his teeth showing in a terrifying lir as he emitted a growl so gruesome and animalistic that it made my whole body shake.

It reminded me of the wolf pack, all of them hunting like a group of hungry predators, only..

These creatures were not _alive_. They were just like rocks, emitting no life force.

I could _feel_ it.

One of the creatures, a man, stepped forward, closer to my mother's unsuspecting back.

And then, before I cold even open my mouth to scream at her to get away, the man had his hand around her neck and, and..he bit her?!

My mother let out a howl of pain while the rest of the creatures only laughed, like this was all some sick entertainment they all enjoyed.

My whole body was numb, my ears buzzing and my brain not comprehending what was happening. It must be a nightmare, yes. That's it. Soon I'll wake up. Soon.

But, it didn't happen. The creature finished sucking on my mother's neck and disposed of her like she was a ragg doll. Her whole body slack and unmoving. Dead. Mother. Dead.

And I hadn't even moved.

It had all happened so quick.

All around me I could her people screaming, cursing and yelling in fear.

The other creatures were all running around in the mass of people now, killing some of them, but ignoring others.

They took the most appetizing ones, I thought, almost in a daze. The ones who smelled the best, just like regular animals.

Only, they were not animals.

They didn't eat their prey. They only wanted our...blood.

Monsters.

And then, as if my brain suddenly caught up with everything that had happened, I felt it.

The grief.

I ran away from the sea of people being killed and reached my mother's lifeless form. I dropped to my knees on the wet ground and cradled her once so animated face in my hands.

She had her mouth wide open in terror, but her eyes were thankfully closed.

I wouldn't have handled seeing her terrified eyes.

In an almost dreamlike state, I closed her mouth and whispered a broken "I love you" against her shoulder as I let a few tears leak out. Yes, I was just dreaming, I told myself. A very realistic and graphic dream.

A hand suddenly gripped my neck and lifted me two feet from the ground.

Ripping me away from my mother.

The pain of being pulled up so sharply seared through my neck and down my spine.

The hand turned me around to face it's owner, a good looking young man with dark hair and those same vibrant red eyes.

But there was something different about this creature, he didn't seem as wild and untamed as the others, actually he looked almost, calm. Eerily so.

"No, no, no. What an enchanting young woman we have here. So fresh, so beautiful, so tempting, it would really be a shame to kill one such as yourself. Humans like you are extremely rare to come by." his velvet voice said in a low sultry voice, looking at me like I was some sort of prized object.

My mouth was dry, and surprisingly enough, so were my eyes.

Grieving would have to wait.

I was angry. As hell.

Before I had thought the action through, I opened my mouth and spoke.

"You will pay for this", my voice almost deadly by all of the fury running through my veins.

The creature only laughed heartedly at me.

"Ah, so you're a fiery one, are you not? That's endearing."

His almost mocking voice made me even more furious.

I opened my mouth and screamed.

With the help of the wind my scream rose several octaves, landing on a note so high that I could barely hear it, but I instinctually knew that this creature could hear it perfectly, _loud_ and clear.

His eyes got impossibly wide and he dropped me like he had been burned and covered his ears, whimpering like a little child.

Taking a few steps away from him I stomped my foot hard into the ground.

Almost immideiately the ground opened up under him and he fell into a 20 feet deep hole.

His ouraged cry of disbelief filled my ears as he tried to climb up again.

Eyes wide with...awe?

Oh, no.

I wasted no time as I made the air he breathed into his lungs burst into fire.

It was quite funny to see how much wider his eyes could get before his whole body burst into an inferno of flames.

I turned around quickly from the sight and focused my eyes somewhere else.

I didn't want to see what I had done.

It seemed like the whole scene between me and the now dead man had scared the other creatures away.

Several bodies lay on the ground, all of them dead and pale with their loved ones crying on their shoulders.

No one dared to move.

The survivors eyes were all trained directly on me. And I recognized the emotions in them easily.

Fear, disgust, horror.

The silence was defeaning.

Although none of them were saying the words out loud, I could almost here all the accusations and murderuos thoughts running through their heads.

They wanted me dead, because I was different.

A freak among them.

It didn't matter that I had scared all the creatures away, in their eyes I was just as evil as them.

I couldn't take it. They were all so right. I had killed, I was no better than the very thing that had attacked them.

My legs were quivering as I let all the guilt and sorrow I felt wash over me.

The emotions so strong I thought I might pass out from them.

Oh, dear God. How could you lose control like that? That was one of our main rules.

Never lose your head, it might kill someone. What would my grandmother think of me now, if she could see me?

-

The sound of coughing made my head snap back around immideiately.

It couldn't be..

No one could have survived something like that...

But a hoarse voice convinced me otherwise.

"Oh, really shouldn't have done _that_".

Slowly making its way up from the deep hole was none other then the previously burning man.

The thing that shocked me the most about his survival wasn't the mere fact that he actually did.

No, the most shocking thing was that he looked perfectly fine, even his hair. The blonde locks shining.

With a movement so quick that I barely saw it, he swung himself up into the air with brutal force and landed perfectly a mere foot away from me.

His eyes glowing with..amusement? Excitement?

My brain had no time to react before his hand suddenly shot out and, what looked like with no effort at all, knocked me out cold.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Slowly, I came back to reality, my head pounding furiously.

A couple of hushed whispers made my ears perk up.

"Why did you bring her here, Samuel? What use is she to us?" The voice was undeniably feminim and from the sound of it, very irritated.

I was only half concious and fighting very hard to stay remotely aware.

A dizzying feeling slowly making itself known.

"Didn't you see what she can do? She's merely human, yet she has more talent than all of us combined. The fire she threw at me actually _hurt_. Normal fire doesn't harm us unless we have been torn apart, but _hers _did. Think of the possibilities! With her by our side we could take on the Volturi! Think about it, Georgia." I recognized this voice immideiately, it was the man I had set on fire. And he sounded besides himself with joy.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I am little curious about how you plan on turning her, yet alone convince her to join us. In case you have forgotten, none of us has the strenght to do something like that." The female was quickly becoming more and more aggitated.

"Ah, but you see. I have already thought about that, my dear. You remember my little aquaintance, Fabio?"

"The vegeterian? Why do you think he would help _us_?"

"Simple. We are six, he is just one. Do you see where I am going with this?"

He didn't recieve an answer. I guess he had her convinced.

"We still have to finish of what we started in the village, you know how much trouble we wil be in if rumours spread about our little massacre. The Volturi would be here quicker than you can blink", she said, the irritation slipping away and being replaced by fright.

These Volturies must be important. Or simply powerful.

"Of course, honey. I sent Arthur to find Olivia, Silvia and Carl. Those useless cowards", the male's voice was dark with fury.

My head was beginning to feel a little less dizzy so I decided to try and move the rest of my body.

Unfortunately they had tied my hands together behind my back with a thick rope. What in the world was I to do now?

I was lying on something that felt like grass, and when I opened my eyes I was met with the familiar sight of my forest.

Judging by the slightly dim light that seeped through the treetops it was probably twilight. The sun barely peeking over the mountains.

The grass and leaves were tickling my neck, but I stayed quiet.

For a moment I considered the possibillity of dying, right here, right now.

It didn't sound too bad, rather nice actually.

I could see mother again. And my grandparents. And father who....

Was probably being excecuted at this very moment. Oh, dear God. What have I done. My sweet, caring father walking up to a podium to get his head chopped of.

Just for being my father. The father of a freak.

I had to do something!

I couldn't lose him too.

Carefully, I tugged on the rope that tied my hands together. No luck there, they were not budging.

The creatures who were watching over me seemed to have gone off in different directions, confident that I was knocked out cold. Or maybe confidant in the knowledge that if I was to try and escape they would surely catch me.

I had already seen how quick they were.

But I knew something they didn't.

As silently as possible I slowly sat up into a sitting position.

My back was aching uncomfortably from lying on the ground too long, but I easily ignored it.

Trying to steady my heartbeat, I took a deap breath before I quickly scrambled to my feet.

In my haste to get up a twig snapped underneath my left foot.

Now I had really done it.

The creatures appeared before me in a flash, a wild looking female with dirty blond hair and the male I had set on fire.

Both seemed surprised to see me up and about, but they didn't linger long.

The male was the one to react first, roaring and coming for me in a blur of movements.

Panick overwhelmed me and I did the only thing that I could think of.

I bent my knees and jumped, shooting up into the sky like an arrow.

The wind wislting past me, making my eyes sting, but I didn't care.

My father was running out of time.

**Charles Lucas Swan POV**

**1617, England Norwich**

The priest and his men came for me as I made my way home from the fish market that lay a few miles out of town.

I had picked up some salt and sugar for my wife, she had just wanted to make some breads.

I loved her breads.

And now she was dead. My sweet, young spirited wife was...dead.

I couldn't comprehend it.

What about my daughter? Is she allright, did she get hurt?

I had asked the priest desperately.

The response I recieved knocked me to my knees, literally.

One of the giant men standing beside the priest had punched me directly in the face. That was my punishment, my punishment for helping create an evil witch with powers so gruesome it made the earth weak and succumb to its power.

He showed me the hole she had made in the middle of the street.

Explaining how she had set one of the creatures on fire, but that it had survived.

And not only that. It had also kidnapped her, probably to eat here too. Like it did to my wife.

My beautiful Bells, a witch. I refused to believe it. She was so pure, so full of life, there was no way she could have meant to hurt anyone on purpose, I only hoped she hadn't witnessed it. Reene's death. Oh, God in heaven I hope not.

My little girl, seeing her mother die before her own eyes.

Didn't God have any mercy for her?

This was all those vile creatures fault, those demons were the ones who should be hated and blamed, not my daughter.

My Bells was a good person no matter what powers she may have possesed. I still loved her with all my heart, she was my little angel. With her and my wife dead I had nothing left to live for.

I just wish they could hurry up with the death trial. Just chop my head of and be done with it.

They placed me in a dark wet room where I was suppoused to stay the night. A rat keeping me company during my final hours.

Of course I cried, I cried like I have never cried in my entire life. Wave after wave with grief hit me as I recalled all the happy moments I had been blessed with.

Memories of Bella's first steps, Reene's teary 'yes' as I asked her to marry me.

I cherised these moments above all others.

Sunset came eventually. The time of my final judgement. Soon I would join my wife and daughter in heaven. Two heavily muscled men took me away from the dark room I had been stowed in.

Outside the dungeon the sun hit me with brutal force. The light stinging my eyes like needles.

Once my vision had cleared I saw a small podium with a mask clad man on top. The man was holding an enormous axe, the steel shining in the bright sunlight. Surrounding the podium was a mass of angry people yelling and sending me hateful looks.

A hard push from behind made me scurry my way up the two small steps that led me to my death. At least the axe looked sharp.

A hush fell over the audionece as the priest began his terribly long speach about why I was beiing condemned to death. I didn't bother listening to him.

Instead I closed my eyes and focused on breathing evenly. The task was ridiculousely easy. It was funny how happy I felt.

The promise of seeing my loved ones again replacing all the terror I should have felt with eagerness and joy.

I don't know how long I stood there with my eyes closed, but I felt that I was more than ready for death to come when the big mask covered man made me lay my head on a steel plate. No one had to hold me down, I lay there competely still with a smile on my mouth.

Then, the man lifted his axe and swung it down on my neck with a grunt.


	2. Chapter 2

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AN: Hello, sooo. Not much of a response for the first chapter. I have to say it was a bit dissapointing. I love to hear what those who read my story thinks, even if it's negative.

**Unfortunately, I have to set an ultimatum here. If I do not get any reviews for this story, I'm going to delete it. I hope you don't get cross with me, but when you post a story on the internet it is because you want to hear others toughts on it, not just your own. If that were the case I could have just left it on my computer and be done with it. **

**Ok..uh..please don't hate me?**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters and rights to the books.**

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**Isabella Marie Swan POV**

**1855, Norway Bergen**

The smell of fresh bread and cookies made my stomach growl furiously with hunger as I was making my way home to my small rented house that lay a few kilometers out of town. The town market was lively and full of cheery people shouting out offers here and there, and ships making their way into the docks. The sailors were always very humoring to watch when they put their feet on solid ground again for the first time in several months. To say that they were ungraceful would be an understatement as they wobbled their way down the street. A few of the sailors recognized me from my days working in the harbor and cast me a smirk, some of them even shouting a joyous greeting.

I guess my whole 'keeping-a-low-profile-plan' was futile here.

I dug my hand into my pocket and tried to calculate how much money I could spend on a few chocolate cookies. They were my favourites. I hadn't eaten since breakfast early this morning so I was literally famished. My work at the Nationale Scene had taken up so much of my time that I just hadn't had any time at all to grab a bite to eat.

I walked up to one of the stands that sold food and lay down 3,45 Norwegian kroner.

"Kan jeg få to sjokoladekjeks, takk?" I asked the broad shouldered man standing behind the desk.

He looked at me curiously, squinting his clear blue eyes, before nodding his head and scooping up two cookies for me and putting them in a paper bag. I smiled at him and continued my journey home. He probably found my accent a little weird.

My dance teacher had held me back after the regular 3 hour practice and insisted that I took some extra time to perfect my balance. She was right of course, although I knew all the steps by heart and moved gracefully enough, I still found ways to trip over the littlest things. Like a tiny bump in the floor or a crease in the carpet.

Very frustrating, belive me.

I still don't understand how I came to land this job. It had all been completely random.

I was merely looking for a job behind the scenes, something easy and simple with a decent salary. Instead, the owner of the theathre insisted that I should absolutely try out as a dancer, exclaiming that I held an aura around me that just screamed natural born dancer. Although I suspected him to be a bit of an optimist, I complied and decided to humor him with showing him some of my jumping skills. When you can manipulate the air around you it wasn't all that hard to make people gape in astonishment.

Well, one thing led to another and suddenly I was taking dance lessons all day long and getting put on the stage to do my numbers. I always got good reviews, surprisingly enough. Who would have thought that? Me, Bella Swan, as I now go buy, 255 years old clutz, dancing on stage infront of hundreds of people?

A true miracle I must admit.

Speaking of age, I thought with an inward sigh. It was soon time for me to leave again. I had been here for almost six years already and I could see that people were beginning to look at me suspiciously. I didn't entirely look like a 23 years old, but my maturity had made them all overlook my lack of aging for a long time.

But if I stayed any longer I knew I would be pushing it.

The only thing that was holding me back was the nature here in this country, it was so familiar to England, yet completely different. High mountains, ever changing weather and beautiful scenery.

Yes, I would really miss this.

It's been excactly 238 years since that fateful day when my father had been excecuted. I was to late to save him, and the rest of the village. The vampires had beaten me to the finish line. I knew what they were now, it wasn't that hard to figure out, history books were really handy things.

I spent a whole month wallowing in my own misery before I had had enough and tried to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. It didn't work, of course. I survived without a single scratch. My fate already preventing me from ending my own life.

A year later I stopped aging. Friday the 13th, when I turned 18. I had to leave the country for my own safety and snuck on board a fishing boat that was headed to France.

It took five days to get the smell of fish out of my clothes.

It still pains me to think about that fatefull day, although some of the details are a bit blurred around the edges I can still recall the endless grief I had felt, and still feel to this day. It took me several years to learn how to supress it.

In France I started my search for him. The one I was suppoused to be with. I was desperate to find him, I was so lonely, all my loved ones were dead. I needed someone to share my hellish excistance with, someone who wouldn't perish and die from me, but rather make me mortal again.

Immortality is truly a curse.

I went out with a hord of guys, hoping beyond hope that one of them would be the one, but I never found someone who I could love. All of them were either too boring, too stuck up or too dumb to make me feel anything other than irritation.

I practiced this method for almost two decades before I decided to stop. My search was getting me nowhere and I decided that I would have to try a new strategy, which I still follow to this day.

Look, but don't touch. You'll now when you find him.

There are still days that I curse what I am and wish for death to finally come and take me, but throughout the centuries I have also come to accept it as a part of who I am. Accepted it, not stopped hating it. Claude's advice has become my life mantra.

"Life goes on. Even when it seems impossible."

I only hope that I find the him soon, the one that I am destined for.

Before I loose all hope.

**Edward Anthony Masen POV**

**1917, America Chicago**

"Come on in, come on in. Do not be afraid of the unknown! We have been expecting you", yelled the deep voice of a man clad entirely in black, complete with a hood that covered his face.

The big entrance to the circus tent was just a few feet ahead of us, my mother smiling brightly at the man while I just snickered quietly to myself.

Father just scowled and looked at the dark clad man with a skeptic look in his eyes.

The whole ordeal had been my mothers idea, she has always loved the circus and since one of the biggest circuses in the world, Svanen, had now graced Chicago with its prescence she had of course insisted that we should go have a look at it.

My father and I not having any say in the matter.

To be honest I was a little excited, I had heard many amazing things about these circuses, like lion taming, jugglers and people who could swallow fire.

Almost too unrealistic to believe, but I could at least hope.

"Darling, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, this whole circus thing sounds a bit unnatrual", my father, Edward Senior, whispered nervously to my mother, Elizabeth. He had always been a bit hesitant to try new things, always keeping to the old and familiar, almost the complete opposite of my very enthustiastic and fun loving mother.

They completed each other beautifully.

"Yes, don't you worry. All my friends said that it was absolutely magnificent, especially one of the new acts they have just put up. Something about an enchanting dancer who could jump so high it almost seemed to defy gravity! Oh, doesn't it sound marvellous?" My mother sighed dreamily as we made our way up to the big seeting area that went all the way around the whole circus scene.

We ended up sitting down at the very front, close enough to climb down onto the scene if we wanted to. Which was probably my mother's plan. One of her friends had bragged so much about how she was invited down to the scene by one of the performers one time and got to be a part of the act for a little while.

This immideiately sparked my mother's interest and made her even more excited for this evening.

"Oh, look at the lights, son. Aren't they just spectacular? I wonder how they make them blue and yellow", my mother whispered in my ear.

"Yes, mother. They really are lovely, and I think they use coloured lenses to make the lights like that", I whispered back.

The sitting place next to me didn't remain empty long as a girl my age quickly came and sat down in it. With just one look at her I knew this would be a very long evening.

She was very attractive by normal standards with her blond hair, blue eyes and curvatious body, but it all paled the minute I took a good look at her body language and the almost frightening smirk she was sporting. She was eyeing me like a cat eyed a mouse, her eyes sending unpleasant chills down my back.

God save me now.

This little talent of mine to read people so easily has always been a bit unerving to me. It was the reason to why I hadn't in all my 17 years fallen in love or even felt anything else than a mild attraction towards the female sex in general.

Usually I could find them attractive, but then I really looked at them and could almost see what was going on inside their heads. It was all so predictable and monotonous that my interest quickly surpassed.

This girl was no exception. All that was going on in her head right now was if maybe she should pout a bit more or stick her chest out a bit further. As I said, this would be a long night.

The lights suddenly turned white and were turned to the center of the stage where a tall man stood proudly with an even taller hat ontop of his head. I could feel myself beginning to get a bit eager for the show to start. Maybe then the girl next to me would stop staring at me and pay attention to what was happening on the scene instead.

"Ladies and gentelmen! Welcome to Circus Svanen!" The ringmaster shouted from the center of the scene. His voice was loud and clear, no wonder he landed the job.

The next few minutes he spent talking about the magnificent and enchanting performers we would soon be seeing and making a few jokes here and there.

The publicum loved him.

At last the show began as soon as some muscians began playing a soft and light melody, which quickly turned very comical as some clowns suddenly came running onto the stage and started fighting, throwing pies and slapping each others butts. I laughed so hard that I had to lean onto my mother for support. The girl next to me I ignored completely, I was having too much fun.

The show progressed quickly, the next wonder after the other being presented. A man who could throw knives prefectly even when he was blinfolded, a lady who could walk on a thin line several feet above the ground and then two twins who could make rabbits appear out of a tiny hat and make objects dissapear into thin air.

Easy to say, I was having the time of my life.

And then the ringmaster came out to announce the final act.

"May I have your attention, please! The show is sadly coming to an end,"

at this statement the crowd came with a big dissapointed groan, "_but_, we have one final act left. And believe me, you will not be able to sit in your seats for long during this one. And so, without furthe ado, please welcome Isabella Marie Swan, The Enchantress!"

The music shifted from the light and upbeat tempo it had been playing during the clown act, till a slow and eerie tune that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The only light on the scene was a sinlge white light that slowly expanded, showing of the silouhette of a person that was most definitely feminim.

Slowly the person became more and more revealed as the light grew into a perfect circle shaped form. She was standning with her back to the crowd, clad in a light blue gown that showed of her creamy white shoulders and long toned legs. Her hair fell in in long curls of brown and red all the way down to her round and perfectly shaped behind. My mouth went dry.

I was instantly entranced, perched at the edge of my seat. Something inside my chest moved. An emotion I hadn't felt before started to grow.

Slowly, she began moving to the music, or flowing was probably the more accurate word. Her whole body moving as one with the melody. I could feel the strange emotion inside me begin to ache. It was making me a bit uncomfortable. I just wished she could turn around, so I could see her fully.

And then the music changed again, the drums beating faster and harder, the violins strumming up a fast rythm that matched the way her hips suddenly began rolling and shaking. I could hear several people catch their breathes as the tempo just kept escalating and rising.

That's when she spinned around and showed herself fully.

I knew at that moment that I was lost. That I just had to know her, have her, touch her.

My eyes took her in as if in a dream, the heady rythms pumping through my body and making it heavy with desire and something else I couldn't name, her otherwordly face alight with passion as she moved to the music, jumping high up into the air and spinning, landing perfectly on her right hand. She held that position for about four seconds before she twisted her exquisite body around and went down into an elegant split.

All of this I just registered in the back of my head. My mind had not yet comprehended anything else than the fact that I needed to get closer to her. She pulled me in like a magnet.

I didn't understand why I was reacting or thinking the way did, but I couldn't for the life of me bring myself to care.

I saw the beautiful angel continuing with her act totally obvlious to all that was going on inside my head. My heart was hammering away in my chest like I had just run a marathon, my hands were clammy and sweaty and the feelings stirring in my chest were so foreign and overwhelming that I actually think I let out a little groan as the angel jumped again.

This time she sprang across the entire stage, straight to a trampoline that had just appeared out of nowhere, taking another breatht taking leap and jumping onto it with great force. Her jump combined with the spring from the trampoline sent her flying through the air all the way up to the trapezes. She quickly grabbed hold of one of them and used it to swing in a perfect half circle towards the other side of the scene again, but just as suddenly as she had grabbed hold of the trapeze, she let go .

The crowd, including me, gasped or screamed as she stooped to the ground, doing a few saltos before landning with a soft thud in a crouched positure.

Without even realizing it I had risen from my seat, my hands gripping the railing so tightly that my knuckles had turned white.

I let go when I felt my mother put a hand on my shoulder, making me sit down in my seat again. "Edward, are you alright?" she asked with a smirk on her face. Her eyes seemed to know what was going on inside my head, just like she always had. My face flushed a brilliant shade of red as she let go of my shoulder and let out a little chuckle.

Quickly, I focused back onto the scene where Isabella was standing with an almost shy smile on her face as the music changed for the third time, the melody becoming more romantic and sensous. Slowly, she closed her eyes and made her way nearer to where I was sitting. The crowd was applauding and whistling as she carefully approached them, and _me_.

I had no idea what she was doing, but the mere fact that she was nearing me was enough to make my heart start beating even faster, if that was even possible.

And then she was standing less than five feet from me, close enough for me to see every long dark lash that framed her big eyes. I was practically buzzing with electricity.

Am I dreaming?

Her eyes opened and she looked directly at _me_. And her plump, rosy lips pulled up at the corners in a blendingly beautiful smile, showing of a set of pearly white teeth.

"Hello, there. Would you like to come on stage with me for this last dance?"

The angelic tone of her voice combined with the full force of her mysterious and intense eyes finally proved to be too much for me and everything became black as I passed out.

Maybe I shouldn't have stopped breathing...

**Isabella Marie Swan POV**

**1917, America Chicago **

"Isabella! Could you help me feed Ronda? She is a bit cranky today so she is putting up quite a fight", Fabio, the lion tamer, said in his thick Italian accent.

He was standing outside the lion cage looking at Ronda, the only lioness among the lions, with a stern gaze, clearly not amused by the furious roars that Ronda was emitting every time he got close to the cage door.

"Yes, of course. Just open the cage for me", I said and made my way over to him.

Fabio grinned and quickly opened the cage door for me.

As soon as I stepped into the cage Ronda calmed down and stopped growling, instead she began purring like a kitten and came towards me, rubbing herself up against my stomach. I giggled at her display of affection and stroked her big, furry head lovingly.

We had always gotten along, Ronda and I.

"God, help me. Even the animals love you!" Fabio exclaimed with a smile on his face as he came into the cage with us and lay down Ronda's meal. A thick T-bone steak.

"Oh, do not be jealous Fabio. Ronda and I go way back", I teased as Ronda's tounge came out to lick me directly in the face.

Fabio just laughed and ran his hand through his perfectly styled, black hair and exited the cage again. Shaking his head as he went over to his trailer to get ready for the show tonight.

It's been two years since I had joined the circus now and for some reason I had never felt more normal and happy in my entire existance. Everyone here had welcomed me in with open arms, never pressing about my background or how I could do the things I could.

Of course, I hadn't shown them excactly what I was capable of, just my dancing and, uh, jumping skills. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, or make them scared of me.

I had been dancing for over five decades now, and as they said, practice makes perfect. The fact that my jumping skills simply came from my abbility to control air was something I kept to myself. The circus director merely thought I had uncommonly strong legs.

During these two years I had traveled all over America and quite a bit of Brazil too. The circus had to move after a week of being in the same place, so people wouldn't tire of us, Santo, the circus director said.

It was the perfect life for me, especially since I could stay longer with these people than I would regulary do. I had told them that I was sixteen and that both my parents had died in a terrible fire, they never asked me any further questions. For that I was grateful.

And the fact that I had presented myslef as much younger than I usually went for secured my future for at least five more years, but after that I would have to leave them.

Just like I always have to do.

I'm so tired of this...

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"You are expected on stage in two minuets!" One of the scene workers yelled to me as I was struggling with the buttons on my dress.

Stupid dresses. I wouldn't have worn something like this if I had a choice, but it was all I had now, dresses and ribbons. Something about not hiding the fact that I was, indeed a female, Julia had told me.

Stupid, bubbly, lovely Julia. She always got her way with me, she just had to give me _the look_. Also known as the doe eyes.

I stood no chance. I would really miss her when I had to leave, she had become the closest thing to a friend I have had in a long time.

"Coming!" I yelled back when I finally got the tiny button in its rightful place.

I looked at myslef in the mirror to check if everything looked fine.

My hair was neatly brushed, check, my dress hung like it should, check.

Alright then, I was ready to go.

Swiftly, I went and stood on my mark, waiting for the ringmaster, Andy, to yell my name.

My heart was slightly irregular as I stood there, completely still, just waiting.

I have always hated the attention, but I was more used to it now. When I went out on stage it was like I became someone else for a couple of minutes, just doing what I love.

Dancing. Who would have thought that?

And then Andy yelled my name.

The adrenaline pumped through my body as the light shifted to where I stood, my back to the audience, ready to give my very best

The music became slow and slightly eerie. I took that as my cue to begin moving.

My head emptying of all other thoughts beside the steps and movements I had rehearsed.

Flow, one, two three, flow, one, two, hips, hips, jump, twirl....

I have done this so many times that it's almost like breathing now.

As the music began to escelate I took that as my signal to finally spin around to face the audience.

Hips, flow, jump, air, twirl, right hand, twist, split.

Run, jump, swing, grab, let go, crouch.

My act was coming to an end now, the music changing to calmer more romantic tune. This was the part were I could choose one from the audience to perform with me, the crowd always loved being part of the show.

I closed my eyes and approached the audience, whoever I saw first when I opened my eyes could come down and join me, if the person wished so.

And then I felt it.

My feet seemed to almost move by themselves, like they were being pulled by some unknown force, this was strange. I could also feel myslef become very aware of everything around me, every sound, every noise, movement.

What's happening?

I opened my eyes without thinking.

I saw him immideiately. And I knew, just like I had always hoped I would, that I had finally found him.

His hair was an unnusual shade of brown, almost bronze like. Strong jaw, straight nose and high cheekbones. He would put Adonis himself to shame.

But it was his eyes that drew me in and confirmed my beliefs. They were the most stunning shade of emerald green, deep and wise beyond his years. They seemed to look straight into the core of my soul.

Say something!

"Hello, there. Would you like to come on stage with me for this last dance?"

I barely got the words out, my breath was coming out in unsteady puffs, my heart hammering away like a mocking birds wings. And my chest tight with the life altering emotions my grandmother had described for me.

She had told me everything there was to know about this moment, but _knowing_ and _feeling_ were to very different things.

Our eyes were locked, and I couldn't for the life of me look away. That's when I saw that he was beginning to look a bit.. odd.

And then he passed out.

What had I done?

"Son? Edward, are you alright? Oh,what happend to him." The frantic voice of what I assumed was his mother brought me out of my daze.

Edward, what a beautiful name.

She was leaning over him cradling his face in her petite hands, looking at him with a panicked look in her eyes. Her husband was trying to comfort her, but she didn't seem to listen to him.

I had to fix this.

"I'm extremely sorry. It was not my intention to scare him. Let me take care of him. One of our scene workers is a former doctor. I can take Edward to him."

I tried to not let my almost child like eagerness show. Just the thought of touching this magnificent boy had sent my heart into a frenzie.

I wanted to assure myself that this moment was real, that my search was finally over. And to do that I had to _feel_ him for myself.

Edward's mother looked at me with an almost surprised look in her green eyes, like she had almost forgotten that I was standning here. Now I know where Edward got his eyes from.

"Oh, well. That is very kind of you, thank you very much." She said hesitately.

I didn't blame her, she didn't even know me.

With a leap I jumped over the rail and crouched down to where Edward was lying on the ground.

"My husband can take him. He is probably a bit too heavy for you to carry." Edward's mother said, looking over at her husband who was already straightening up, ready to step into action.

No! I needed to touch him!

"Oh, that's quite alright. I'm much stronger than I look like. No need to strain yourself Mr...?"

"Masen, Edward Masen, and this is my wife Elizabeth." Edward senior's deep voice said. His hand brushing away his dark hair away as he took my outstretched one and shook it.

"Are you sure you can handle it, I mean, no disrespect, but.." Elizabeth still looked a bit unnsure so I was quick with scooping her son into my arms.

He didn't weigh a thing! But I still felt the electrical shock that went through me once his left cheek brush up against my neck.

Finally.

"Do not worry, we dancers have to stay in good shape always. Just exit through the back and then go to the left until you come to a big colorful trailer, that's were I'll take him."

I gave them my most winning smile hoping to soothe their nervs a bit. It seemed to help, they got a very dazed look in their eyes.

With Edward in my arms I jumped over the railing again and carried him off the stage and gave a sign to Andy that he should try to calm the crowd down.

He understood immideiately and scurried out onto stage with a big grin on his face and a good joke already prepeared.

I didn't listen to what he said. I was too busy filling my lungs with as much of Edward's scent as I possibly could. Ginger, spice and something else I could not name. It was simply mouthwatering.

"You have no idea what you have just gotten yourself into," I whispered lovingly into his ear, not resisting to lay a small kiss there.

This is what heaven must feel like.


End file.
